BYBALTIMORE — Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI confirmed.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity," statements from both the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office said Saturday morning.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, which lost power multiple times minutes before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city's port. That includes Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves because the Dali has a"sister ship," authorities wrote in the claim. The lawsuit noted cracked equipment in the engine room and pieces of cargo shaken loose. The ship's electrical equipment was in such bad condition that an independent agency stopped further electrical testing because of safety concerns, according to the lawsuit.